Biography
Dr. MaryShannon Williams is currently working as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Texas A&M University, studying active learning and active learning spaces. When not working (or sleeping), she works as a limited term lecturer for the Master of Science in Education in the Learning Design & Technology program at Purdue University. She earned a Ph.D. in Information Science and Learning Technologies at the University of Missouri - Columbia. Dr. Williams' dissertation explored the nature of participation in a hybrid community of practice on teacher efficacy, leadership, and practice. She continues to be interested in research on communities of practice, faculty professional development and active learning. Additionally, she is researching effective uses of data visualization to advance the diagnostic potential of Big Data. She recently relocated to Texas from Lafayette, IN, where she was an Instructional Design Specialist on the Course Design and Development team in Teaching and Learning Technologies at Purdue University. Prior to working for Purdue, she worked as an Instructional Designer developing online teacher professional development for eMINTS National Center, an ancillary partner of the College of Education at the University of Missouri. Before moving into higher education, Dr. Williams taught for 10 years in the K-12 environment in Seoul, South Korea (1 year) and San Antonio, TX. She has a Master of Arts in Education with a focus in Learning Technology from the University of Texas at San Antonio and a Bachelor's of Science in Radio-TV-Film from the University of Texas. She is certified in Texas to teach PreK-6, Generalist 4-8, and Technology Applications PreK-12. She is a lover of movies, an avid reader, and a world-class sleeper.
